Here are some student comments from their post-project surveys...
Reading in general...
1. What does someone have to do to be a good reader?
To be a good reader, you have to visualize you have to see what the (author is) trying to say.
- Dylan F.
In order to be a good reader you could imagine whats going on in your head. (picture the problems)
- Victoria D.
They have to connect to the characters and know what is happening. Also, ask yourself questions.
- Cassie V.
In order to be a good reader, you must know what the text you are reading is about.
- Francisco R.
To make someone a good reader, they have to read more books.
- Jimmy M.
They just have to read a lot.
- Joe S.
Be able to understand what they read, and write questions or predictions on the book
- Janiyah B.
You must know a lot of words to be a good reader.
- Madison F.
To be a good reader you have to love reading and read all the time.
- Stephanie W.
Stay on track and read at a daily basis.
- Robert T.
Read over and over. It worked for me!
- Nick S.
7. How often do you read at home?
Yes, after reading these books I do a lot.
- Cassie V.
I now read at least a half hour every night.
- Breanna R.
I read about every other night.
- Zach L.
At home I read a lot. I read every day.
- Victoria D.
Not often but since this project started a lot
- Dylan F.
At home I read about 2 hours a day.
- Michael C.
I do not read a lot at home, maybe a book a month.
- Willie K.
I read sometimes at home, but I do it more now.
- Amanda S.
I read about every day at home. I do this because the books I'm reading are very interesting.
- Jimmy M.
I often read at home about 3 times a day, when I get home, before dinner, and before I go to bed.
- Miranda T.
I read whenever I have nothing better to do.
- Tristian M.
Never
- Joe S.
I read a lot more now that we have done this.
Zach F.
I read at home once and a while
Stephanie W.
Every night
- Amber A.
About this project...
2. What was the best part of this project?
Reading new books and having fun. Connecting to some of them.
- Cassie V.
The best part of the project I think was the circle group.
- Breanna R.
The actual reading.
- William R.
The best part of this project was actually reading these books.
- Michael C.
I think the best part of this project was getting to choose the books for once.
- Willie K.
Making the movie poster.
- Tristian M.
For me, the best part of the project was the note cards. I liked this because you really get to see who sent you a letter and what they think.
- Isaac B.
Learning about all of the issues going on both in the books and in reality.
- Alyssa O.
We got to pick books that we like.
- Patrick S.
I loved the disscosion cicles I loved hearing about everyones books & issues.
- Stephanie W.
We got to choose are own book that we like. Also we didn't have to read those boring books.
- John C.
It got me to enjoy reading more from last year.
- Zach F.
Writing the letters to the teacher was the best part to me
- Janiyah B.
3. What changes would you make?
Instead of writing letters to teacher write to friend and tell them if they would like it.
- Will R.
Some changes I would change is that at least everyone should read more than one book. (If possible add more different books)
- Victoria D.
Some of the changes I would make is a little less (vocabulary) words.
- Zach L.
My opinion is I would not change anything. The circle, letters and the free reading time was a great idea.
- Breanna R.
The changes I would make are having more time to read, and have more then 7 weeks for this project.
- Miranda T.
If I could make a change, I think anyone that was reading the same book should have to work together if they wanted to.
- Isaac B.
Changes I'd make are that we didn't have to find so many vocab. words.
- Gabe V.
I wish we have done a group project
- Amber A.
I would get more copies of books.
- John C.
I would change writing back and forth in the notebook-
- Joe S.
4. What did you think of communicating with your teachers through letters in your dialogue journal?
I thought that writing to the teachers made us really understand the book.
- Breanna R.
I thought it was good we got to state our opinion and what we thought and so did they!
- Cassie V.
I think of communicating with my teachers with letters in my journal it was fun because you do not have to talk out loud.
- Zach L.
I think the communication with teachers in my journal was great! I think it was great because you are able to talk about your book and whats some of the problems.
- Victoria D.
I think the letters had a good use because we got to talk to the teachers privatly without people laughing or saying things to you.
- Tom O.
Communicating was hard you had to think.
- Dylan F.
I thought it was fun. I mean, you forget about it sometimes.
- Caitlyn C.
I think it was fun to hear what they had to say.
- Willie K.
I did not like it because it was hard to keep up with the journals and we already do the circles and I think thats enought.
- Amanda S.
Communicating with the teachers was interesting because it was like a conversation.
- Tristian M.
I think communicating with our teachers through letters in your dialogue journal was a good idea. It gives you an opportunity to tell some problems you have with your book and they can help you out.
- Francisco R.
I think it was better because some people are shy and this is the only way to communicate.
- Gabe V.
I think that communicating with the teachers threw journals was a cool think because I liked to send letters back and forth.
- Linda W.
I thought communicating with your teachers over letters was annoying and fun because there opinion counts too!
- Miranda T.
I think it helped us understand what was happening and it challenged us to think and give our opinions.
- Alyssa O.
I liked it because I got to talk to Mrs. Clark just me and got to expresse myself.
- Amber A.
I thought it was good because it was keeping me on track.
- Robert T.
I like communicating with the teacher because if we had question plus they new most of the books.
- John C.
At first it's all fun, but it starts to get boring and annoying.
- Lenicia C.
I didn't like doing that because why not just talk in person about it.
- Joe S.
I think it was grate that we did that because now we could express our feelings without anyone else knowing.
- Zach. F.
Here are some student comments from their post-project surveys...
Reading in general...
1. What does someone have to do to be a good reader?
To be a good reader, you have to visualize you have to see what the (author is) trying to say.
- Dylan F.
In order to be a good reader you could imagine whats going on in your head. (picture the problems)
- Victoria D.
They have to connect to the characters and know what is happening. Also, ask yourself questions.
- Cassie V.
In order to be a good reader, you must know what the text you are reading is about.
- Francisco R.
To make someone a good reader, they have to read more books.
- Jimmy M.
They just have to read a lot.
- Joe S.
Be able to understand what they read, and write questions or predictions on the book
- Janiyah B.
You must know a lot of words to be a good reader.
- Madison F.
To be a good reader you have to love reading and read all the time.
- Stephanie W.
Stay on track and read at a daily basis.
- Robert T.
Read over and over. It worked for me!
- Nick S.
7. How often do you read at home?
Yes, after reading these books I do a lot.
- Cassie V.
I now read at least a half hour every night.
- Breanna R.
I read about every other night.
- Zach L.
At home I read a lot. I read every day.
- Victoria D.
Not often but since this project started a lot
- Dylan F.
At home I read about 2 hours a day.
- Michael C.
I do not read a lot at home, maybe a book a month.
- Willie K.
I read sometimes at home, but I do it more now.
- Amanda S.
I read about every day at home. I do this because the books I'm reading are very interesting.
- Jimmy M.
I often read at home about 3 times a day, when I get home, before dinner, and before I go to bed.
- Miranda T.
I read whenever I have nothing better to do.
- Tristian M.
Never
- Joe S.
I read a lot more now that we have done this.
Zach F.
I read at home once and a while
Stephanie W.
Every night
- Amber A.
About this project...
2. What was the best part of this project?
Reading new books and having fun. Connecting to some of them.
- Cassie V.
The best part of the project I think was the circle group.
- Breanna R.
The actual reading.
- William R.
The best part of this project was actually reading these books.
- Michael C.
I think the best part of this project was getting to choose the books for once.
- Willie K.
Making the movie poster.
- Tristian M.
For me, the best part of the project was the note cards. I liked this because you really get to see who sent you a letter and what they think.
- Isaac B.
Learning about all of the issues going on both in the books and in reality.
- Alyssa O.
We got to pick books that we like.
- Patrick S.
I loved the disscosion cicles I loved hearing about everyones books & issues.
- Stephanie W.
We got to choose are own book that we like. Also we didn't have to read those boring books.
- John C.
It got me to enjoy reading more from last year.
- Zach F.
Writing the letters to the teacher was the best part to me
- Janiyah B.
3. What changes would you make?
Instead of writing letters to teacher write to friend and tell them if they would like it.
- Will R.
Some changes I would change is that at least everyone should read more than one book. (If possible add more different books)
- Victoria D.
Some of the changes I would make is a little less (vocabulary) words.
- Zach L.
My opinion is I would not change anything. The circle, letters and the free reading time was a great idea.
- Breanna R.
The changes I would make are having more time to read, and have more then 7 weeks for this project.
- Miranda T.
If I could make a change, I think anyone that was reading the same book should have to work together if they wanted to.
- Isaac B.
Changes I'd make are that we didn't have to find so many vocab. words.
- Gabe V.
I wish we have done a group project
- Amber A.
I would get more copies of books.
- John C.
I would change writing back and forth in the notebook-
- Joe S.
4. What did you think of communicating with your teachers through letters in your dialogue journal?
I thought that writing to the teachers made us really understand the book.
- Breanna R.
I thought it was good we got to state our opinion and what we thought and so did they!
- Cassie V.
I think of communicating with my teachers with letters in my journal it was fun because you do not have to talk out loud.
- Zach L.
I think the communication with teachers in my journal was great! I think it was great because you are able to talk about your book and whats some of the problems.
- Victoria D.
I think the letters had a good use because we got to talk to the teachers privatly without people laughing or saying things to you.
- Tom O.
Communicating was hard you had to think.
- Dylan F.
I thought it was fun. I mean, you forget about it sometimes.
- Caitlyn C.
I think it was fun to hear what they had to say.
- Willie K.
I did not like it because it was hard to keep up with the journals and we already do the circles and I think thats enought.
- Amanda S.
Communicating with the teachers was interesting because it was like a conversation.
- Tristian M.
I think communicating with our teachers through letters in your dialogue journal was a good idea. It gives you an opportunity to tell some problems you have with your book and they can help you out.
- Francisco R.
I think it was better because some people are shy and this is the only way to communicate.
- Gabe V.
I think that communicating with the teachers threw journals was a cool think because I liked to send letters back and forth.
- Linda W.
I thought communicating with your teachers over letters was annoying and fun because there opinion counts too!
- Miranda T.
I think it helped us understand what was happening and it challenged us to think and give our opinions.
- Alyssa O.
I liked it because I got to talk to Mrs. Clark just me and got to expresse myself.
- Amber A.
I thought it was good because it was keeping me on track.
- Robert T.
I like communicating with the teacher because if we had question plus they new most of the books.
- John C.
At first it's all fun, but it starts to get boring and annoying.
- Lenicia C.
I didn't like doing that because why not just talk in person about it.
- Joe S.
I think it was grate that we did that because now we could express our feelings without anyone else knowing.
- Zach. F.